Entries Tagged 'Sauce' ↓

I love grilled wings – crispy, sweet, spicy, tangy, juicy, smoky – what’s not to love? I just look for excuses to make them. This batch was an experiment in making my own wing sauce. I’ve tried a lot of the bottled sauces and been happy (sometimes ecstatic) with most of them, but I still wanted to try my hand at creating my own unique sauce.

3-4 pounds chicken wings (about 16-24 wings), cut at the joint into two pieces
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup cider vinegar
4 tablespoons butter
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon medium chili powder
1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the wings and the butter and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Add the butter and boil for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Makes about 2 cups.

In a large container with a lid, combine half the sauce with the wings and and shake to make sure that they are well-covered. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight, turning the pieces occasionally.

Set up your grill for an indirect cook at 400°F. Use a pan under the grate to catch any drippings and further diffuse the heat.

When the grill is ready, put the wings on the grill and cook undisturbed for 30 minutes. Flip and cook for another 30 minutes, or until brown and crispy.

Pour remaining sauce into a large bowl Add the wings and toss to mix well. Move to a plate and serve with bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks.

The Verdict

While these were some tasty wings, there’s plenty of room for improvement:

• They had just a little heat up front, but it lingered and built. I liked it, but by the 4th wing or so some folks found them a little overwhelming. Next time I’d go down to 1 teaspoon cayenne and add 1/2 teaspoon chipotle.
• Way too much vinegar. I’ll leave out the white vinegar entirely and double the balsamic and maybe add a 1/4 cup or so of beer.
• More sweet – double the brown sugar.
• Maybe a tablespoon of ketchup or tomato sauce to help meld the flavors.
• The grocery store was out of fresh wings,  so I had to use frozen -  never again, no way, no how – the frozen ones are much smaller and the texture just isn’t as good.
• To marinate or not marinate: that is the question. Marinating gets me a deeper flavor. Not marinating gets me a dryer skin, which means a crispier wing. Not sure which I like more.

Well, it looks like I’ll be be running a few more tests. The nice thing about experimenting with food is that you get to eat your mistakes.

Pickapeppa sauce is kind of the Jamaican version of a Worcestershire or steak sauce. It’s a spicy/sweet/savory blend of tomatoes, onions, cane vinegar, peppers, mangoes, raisins, tamarind, and secret spices. While it smells a lot like jerk seasoning, it doesn’t have anywhere near the heat. Often called “Jamaican ketchup,” you can use it as a condiment, a barbecue sauce, or (as in this recipe) a marinade.

8-12 chicken thighs
1 bottle Classic Pickapeppa Sauce
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Combine all of the ingredients, except the chicken, and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Put the chicken in a Ziploc bag and cover with the marinade. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, overnight is better, 48 hours rocks.

Set your grill up for an indirect cook over medium-high  (400°F) heat. Put the thighs on the grill skin side down. Close the lid and cook for 20 minutes. Flip and cook  until the internal temperature has reached 180°F in the thickest part of the thighs, about another 40 minutes.

When the chicken is done, remove it to a warm plate and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve with more Pickapeppa sauce and a Caribbean hot sauce on the side.

We decided to cook an early Thanksgiving dinner with some friends since we’re going to be visiting family for turkey day. This is our first gluten-free major holiday meal, so we wanted to share some of the side dishes we made to go along with the spatchcocked turkey.

Gluten-Free Stuffing

This is a sage-heavy stuffing recipe that we love. Stuffing is an easy dish to make gluten free as it’s mostly just about replacing the bread, soup, and stock with GF versions. We found that it also helps to dry the bread cubes in the oven at 325°F for approximately an hour or so until the cubes are very dry like croutons.

2 loaves bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and dried (we used Pamela’s Pamela’s Gluten-Free Bread Mix)
2 cans gluten-free cream of celery soup (we used Healthy Valley)
2-3 cups chicken stock (we used Pacific Natural)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 tablespoon sage

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add onions, garlic,  and celery and cook for about 10 minutes or until onions are translucent, but not browned.

In a large bowl, add the veggies to bread cubes and stir to mix. Add the soup and stir again. Add the sage and broth and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir one last time.

Mound stuffing into a buttered 13×9 inch baking dish, adding more stock over the top if it is too dry. Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Gluten-Free Green Bean Casserole

An update on the classic recipe from the side of the Campbell’s soup can. Caramelized onions replace the usual french fried ones.

4 cups cooked green beans
1 cans gluten-free cream of mushroom soup (we used Healthy Valley)
1 large onion, sliced into rings
1/2 pound white mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon gluten-free soy sauce or Bragg’s Aminos
1/4 sliced almonds

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until the onions are soft (about 5 minutes). Sprinkle with a little salt and continue to cook, stirring  frequently, until the onions are golden brown (about 20 minutes).

Remove half the onions and set aside. Add the mushrooms and cook until they start to brown and lose their moisture.

Remove pan from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Add the soup, soy sauce, and beans to the pan. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then pour into a 1 1/2-quart casserole. Top with the reserved onions.

Bake at 350°F  for 25 minutes or until it is hot and bubbling. Top with the almonds and bake for 5 minutes or until the almonds are golden brown.

Manchego Potatoes

Adapted from an old Rachel Ray recipe (gotta love that mole). This recipe is inherently gluten-free and a great change from regular mashed potatoes.

4 pounds baby red-skinned or baby Yukon gold potatoes
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), cut into 4 or 5 chunks
1/2 – 3/4 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 cups shredded Manchego or Pecorino Romano cheese, about 3/4 to 1 pound of cheese
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Halve large potatoes, leave the small ones whole. Put potatoes and garlic in a large stockpot and cover with water. Put the lid on and bring to a boil. Uncover, add the salt, and cook until tender (about 15 minutes).

Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking water.  Add the potatoes, garlic back to the hot pot. Add butter, cream, cheese, rosemary, reserved cooking water and mash the potatoes to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Gluten-Free Gravy

Pan drippings and scratch-made stock are the keys to the great flavor of this recipe. You can make the stock well advance and put the gravy together as the last thing you do before serving the bird.

Neck, backbone, giblets and trimmings reserved from the turkey
2-3 quarts water
2 medium onions, quartered
2 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 ribs celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup gluten-free flour (we used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon sage
2 bay leaves

Put the turkey bits, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic into a large stockpot and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for 2-4 hours. Strain, add the herbs, and bring to a low boil. Cook until the stock has reduced to about 4 cups. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set someplace warm until the turkey is done.

Drain off the dripping from the turkey roaster. SAVE. Put the roaster over a burner on medium-high heat. Add the butter and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the brown bits of fond as the butter melts. Slowly add the flour, using a whisk to work it into the butter. Keep stirring until all of the flour is worked in and you have a smooth roux with no lumps of flour.

Pour as much fat as you can off the reserved pan drippings. Whisk the remaining drippings into the roux. Bring the stock to a low boil and slowly stirthe roux into the stock. Keep stirring as the gravy thickens. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until it reaches the thickness you want.

Happy Thanksgiving! With some planning ahead, it’s easy to have a gluten free holiday that everyone will enjoy.

I’ve been waiting to try out Carnivore BBQ’s Robust sauce, and these baby back ribs were the perfect opportunity.

Preparation

These are minimalist ribs. I did little to prepare them except to remove the membrane on the back side of the ribs and rub a generous coating of Dizzy Pig’s Dizzy Dust into both sides of them about an hour before they went on the smoker.

The Cook

I set up my Big Green Egg for a direct cook at 225 to 250°F. I didn’t use a heat diffuser or drip pan, but I did set my grate on a Woo 2 to give me 8 inches of clearance above the firebox. Still, I wanted a low, even fire so I only filled my firebox about 3/4 of the way up and made sure I had a uniform layer of well- packed lump charcoal.

I lit the charcoal and once the fire was well-established across the entire firebox, I added a couple of chunks of smoking wood (guava, this time) and adjusted the vents to bring the temperature at the grate down to 225°F

I arranged the ribs bone side down on the grate, closed the lid, and let them smoke undisturbed for an hour. I misted the ribs with a 50/50 mixture of cider vinegar and Licor 43 (rum or bourbon would work just fine, too) and flipped them meat side down. I let them cook for another hour, flipped and misted. At hour 4, I just misted the ribs, but left them meat side up.

After the ribs had been on 4 1/2 hours total,  I started checking for doneness. Ribs are done when a full slab will “break” or almost fold in half and start to crack when you pick up one end with a pair of tongs. At this point the meat should also have pulled back from the bone at least half an inch from the end of the bones and a gentle tug on a couple of adjacent bones shows that they will come apart easily.

These racks of ribs where done at about 4 hours and 45 minutes. At that point I brushed on a thick coating of  Carnivore BBQ’s Robust sauce and let them cook for another 15 minutes. I sauced them lightly again, removed them from the smoker, and let them sit 10 minutes before serving.

Results

I gotta say, these are the best ribs I’ve ever made, period. They were smokey and tender with a good bark and they pulled apart with little effort. The Carnivore BBQ’s Robust sauce provides a lot of flavor and heat. It hits you right up front, and then the heat lingers for quite a while. Not an overly hot sauce, but not too sweet or tangy either.  It really worked to bring all of the other flavors together and rounded them out nicely.

This is my take on the Pork Chops in Brandied BBQ Peach Sauce recipe from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: An American Roadhouse.

The folks at Dinosaur start with grilled, center-cut pork chops. I went with  brined and smoked 2-inch thick chops that I cut from the rib end of a pork loin. While they’re not quite as tender as center cut chops, they have plenty of flavor and the brining keeps them very moist.

Brined
4-5 thick-cut pork chops
4 cups water
1/3 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

Bring the water to a boil and add the salt, molasses, vinegar, and peppercorns. Reduce heat and stir until salt is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Arrange the chops in a lidded plastic container or zip-top bag. Cover with the brine, making sure all of the chops are submerged. Seal and let the chops sit in the brine in the refrigerator for no more than 2 hours.

Smoked
While the chops are brining, set up the grill for an indirect cook that will burn for at least 2 hours at 225 to 250°F. Use a drip pan under the grid to catch the fat. Once the grill is up to temperature, add the smoking wood. I like apple word for pork chops. If using a gas grill, place 2-4 cups of soaked wood chunks in the smoker box. If using a charcoal grill, toss a fist-sized lump right into the coals.

Remove the chops from the brine and arrange them on the grill. Close the lid and cook for 30 minutes. Flip the chops and continue to cook until the chops reach and internal temperature of 145°F, about another 30 to 45 minutes. Remove chops to a plate and keep warm.

Brandied
1 pound fresh peaches
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup brandy
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel peaches by cutting an “x” into flesh on the bottom of of each peach and submerging them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove from water and the skins should peel right off. Pit peaches and cut them into medium slices.

In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter and saute ginger until soft. Add peach slices and brown sugar. Stir until everything is well combined and the peaches have begun to soften. Add the 1/4 c. of brandy and very carefull ignite. Cook until flame dies. Add BBQ sauce, cinnamon, and salt and pepper to taste. Ladle sauce over pork chops and serve with Dinosaur’s potato salad.

This is a gluten-free variation of my favorite breakfast – biscuits and gravy.

Ingredients

1 pound pork breakfast sausage
2 cups milk
1/4 cup gluten-free flour (I like Pamela’s Amazing Bread Mix or Gluten-Free Pantry Country French Bread Mix)
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 gluten-free waffles (I used Van’s Frozen Wheat Free Buckwheat – sweet and tasty)
4 eggs

Directions

Cook sausage in a large skillet until uniformly brown. Do not drain. Add sage, red pepper, salt, and black pepper and stir to combine. Add flour and cook over low heat for 5 minutes until flour forms a roux and begins to brown. Remove pan from heat and stir in milk a little at a time. Return to medium-high heat and stir occasionally until gravy comes to a simmer and starts to thicken. Reduce heat to low.

Prepare the eggs. Any style is fine, but I really like them fried sunny side up with runny yolks. Toast the waffles and then top with eggs and sausage gravy.

There are thousands hot sauces out there designed to boost the flavors of food and give them a fiery kick. My dear wife has noted that we sometimes have more condiments than actual food in our pantry, so I’ve tried to limit my collection of hot stuff.  I’m not big into adding a lot of heat for heat’s sake, so all of these sauces have been selected for the other qualities that they bring to the party and the way they compliment the way I like to cook.

Búfalo Picante Clasica – We fell in love with this thick, mild sauce while eating gambas (breaded shrimp) at a little seaside restaurant in Mexico. I particularly like it as a shrimp cocktail sauce  mixed with ketchup, ground horseradish, and little lime juice.

Cholula - It’s all about the pepper – not much heat, very little vinegar, but a solid chili taste that works great on almost any Mexican dish. Very tasty in tacos, nachos, and chili.

Crystal Hot Sauce – Cheap and tasty sauce with good cayenne heat.  If I were to have one Louisiana-style sauce, this would be it as it tends to go well with just about everything. Great in gumbo or jambalaya.

Frank’s RedHot -The hot sauce for making Buffalo wings. Rounder heat and less vinegar than most Louisiana-style sauces. Also great in sausage gravy.

Marie Sharp’s Habanero Pepper Sauce Hot- Brings back fond memories of meals in Belize, where an old Crystal water bottled filled with the homemade version of this hot pepper, carrot, garlic and lime blend is found on every table. Plenty of heat, but good on almost everything. Excellent on selfish and in jerk recipes.

Mae Ploy Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce – Hot and sweet. It’s good as a dipping sauce for egg rolls. I use it a lot as part of a marinade for scallops.

Sriracha - a.k.a. Rooster sauce, this Thai sauce is a sweet and spicy blend of hot peppers and garlic. Very nice mixed with some mayo as a remoulade. Some folks use it as a spicy replacement for ketchup, but I’m not quite there yet.

Tabasco – Ubiquitous and tasty. Another Louisiana-style sauce, but hotter than Crystal or Frank’s and has a fuller flavor. Very good in anything Cajun. Love it on eggs and it’s truly excellent in Bloody Marys.

No, I did not grill Swiss steak. It was a cold and dark Sunday afternoon,  -19°F outside with an ugly North wind, and I was craving some meaty comfort food. This oven-braised dish fit the bill perfectly.

This is mostly just an update to my Grandmother’s recipe. While she would have never used wine, fresh garlic, or Spanish paprika, her Swiss steak was always heavy with onions and tomatoes.

Ingredients

3 pounds minute steak (about 6 steaks)
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 large yellow onion, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Smoked Spanish paprika
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup beef or chicken broth
1/2 cup red wine

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Trim the steaks of any excess fat and cut into into individual serving sizes. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper. Place the flour mixture into a large plate.  Dredge  both sides of the steaks in the flour and set aside.

In a 5-quart Dutch oven or a large, lidded skillet, add enough of the oil to cover the bottom and set it  over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the steaks to the pan two or three at a time, being careful not to overcrowd. Cook about 2 minutes per side until golden brown on both sides. Remove the steaks to a plate, add more oil to the pan,  and repeat until all of the steaks have been browned.

Remove the last steaks from the pan and add the onions and garlic. Saute until soft, but not browned, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, and wine.  Stir to combine and cook for a minute or so, scraping the bottom to loosen all of the brown bits. These will help flavor and thicken the sauce.

Lay the steaks across the top of the sauce. Try for a single layer, but stacking or overlapping is fine if you have to. Cover the pan and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the sauce is brown and bubbly and the meat is falling apart tender.

I love to dish up the steaks on a plate with whipped potatoes and sweet corn and then smother everything with the remaining sauce.

1 small onion, minced
2 clove2 garlic, minced
14.5  ounces canned diced tomatoes
1 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup tamarind concentrate (not paste)
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon bacon grease or butter
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon

In medium sauce pan, heat bacon grease over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, cover and sweat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until mixture is reduced by a third (30 minutes or so).  Sauce will be chunky. If you like a smoother sauce, blend with an immersion blender for a minute or so.

Store, and chill overnight. Makes about 3 cups.

Dave’s notes: Very nice. Best try to date. Good tomato flavor. Like the acid of the red wine vinegar better then the cider vinegar. Sauce is better when it’s a little smoother after hitting it with the immersion blender. Maybe try crushed tomatoes?   Need to back off on the allspice and nutmeg. The Penzey’s stuff is pretty potent.

8 ounces tomato sauce
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup tamarind concentrate (not paste)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon bacon grease or butter
1 teaspoon ground yellow mustard (Colman’s if you can get it)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon onion granulated powder
1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon sweet curry powder
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until mixture is reduced by a third (20 minutes or so). Makes just shy of 2 cups.

Dave’s notes: better, sweet and spicy with being too dark. Littel too much black pepper and mustard. Needs allspice and/or mace. Maybe go 1 cup syrup and leave out the brown sugar (or adjust taste wth a little white sugar).